A corner store, hot wheels, tasty dogs: a Hazleton life

Past, present and future. The Hazleton area certainly produces some of the most interesting people I know. The longer I write this column, the more I come to appreciate the truth of that fact.

Now you take Sandy Moore Willard, who wrote to me recently. “A friend from Hazleton sent me a copy of your column. I am the niece of Jim Perry and his wife, Lyle. Although he never had children of his own, he treated me like a princess. My sister and I both worked in the store during our high school years (after he died), and Marty and Jack were like family members. Lots of good memories!”

Hey Sandy. Do you know Karl Bergamo (Hazleton High School Class of 1953)? He also wrote to share about Perry’s corner store. He’s Marty’s nephew.

Sandy adds, “I left Hazleton immediately after college in 1961 to come to California, but keep in touch with old friends and always enjoy hearing stories. I think my 60th class reunion is scheduled for August.” Let me know if it is, and I’ll give it a shout out.

Sandy concludes, “Some of my favorite Hazleton memories are of Third Base and Knotty Pines (The Pines, as we used to call it). I also remember picking huckleberries in the woods near my home on the Terrace, dancing in Talent on Parade, where my friend Sandy Cassarella tap-danced on roller skates, and being a queen contestant when the city celebrated its centennial. Some of the guys had duck-tail haircuts and wore cigarettes in their rolled up T-shirt sleeves.

“Doesn’t that sound like the ’50s? Still haven’t been able to find pizza with ‘scamutz’ cheese in California, but maybe they just have a different name for it.”

Now this is a cheesy topic that often comes up in my correspondence. Where did the uniquely Hazleton name scamutz come from? My opinion is it is a dialect word for scamorza, an Italian cheese similar to mozzarella, which is very popular in Calabria. A good many families immigrated to the Hazleton area from this part of Italy, so it makes sense to me.

Speaking of that centennial, many men grew beards for the event. It was an odd thing to behold because in the 1950s beards were viewed as very old-fashioned and weren’t common. The bristle fad came and went in and out of fashion over Hazleton’s long history, coming back into vogue in a big way in the late ’60s to the dismay of the older generation. In fact, they considered beards subversive. I recall one miffed fellow grousing, “Why, when I was a boy, I used to say I can’t wait to be old enough to shave. Nowadays the little boys all say, ‘I can’t wait to be old enough to grow a beard.’”

I come across many young “hipsters” in Cambridge, Oxford and London these days, all with styled haircuts and big beards which are very trendy now. Wonder what the ladies think of that look.

Janet (Reinmiller) Planutis wrote me. “I graduated from the Castle in 1961. I’ve fond memories of the Blue+White located on Wyoming Street a half-block from the front of the high school. It was run by Mom and Pop Janoski who were great to us kids who hung out there at lunchtime. It had a great jukebox, a small dance floor and large front windows. We could look out to see the ‘cruisers’ like Art Young in his red Chevy Impala and ‘Tootser’ Barletta in his hot-rod. Great memories and great times!”

Thanks, Janet. Great music, too, by the by.

Even though my vote for Hazleton’s hottest cars goes hands down to the Steber boys up on the Heights, and Tommy Hill on the Northwest side, I know lots of others agree with you about Art’s and Tootser’s place in the history of Hazleton-area Hot Wheels. Maybe we can settle the debate once and for all in some future column. Let me know who you think owned the No. 1 “rod” in the Hazleton area in the ’50s and ’60s.

Hank Narrow shares this. “Your mention of Coney Island brought back an indelible memory: the man in the front window, wearing a white T-shirt, fixing the hot dogs. I believe his name was Nick Goranitis.

“He put buns on his left arm all the way from his hand to his armpit. He then inserted grilled dogs into each bun. Then, a swab of mustard. That was followed by chopped onions. Finally, he spooned out some of the special sauce. He never missed a beat and nothing ever spilled out of the bun. A master of his art.

“Coney Island hot dogs were my favorite followed by Jimmy’s, The Leader Store and the Colonial.

“My HHS ’65 and PSU ’69 classmate, Eric Moyer, and our wives were at a restaurant in Bethlehem years ago. Sitting at another table was another Hazletonian, Bill Malkames, who is an attorney in Allentown. I asked Bill if he would play a quick game of charades to prove to Eric that Bill was from Hazleton.” Hank did his pantomime. “And instantly Bill said ‘The guy in the window at Coney Island.’” Nice one, Hank.

Dolores Cassarella corrected an oversight. “My sister made your column today under her maiden name. Her married name is Schmidt, but Cassarella is fine anyway.”

Former Hazleton resident Michael Apichella is a writer living in Europe. Visit his website at www.michaelapichella.com, contact him at apichellaspeaker@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter,@MApichellaPhD.

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